


Date Night

by Xanadian



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Complete, F/M, Family Fluff, Feel-good, Fluff, Gen, Just all the fluff you can think of, Maiko being parents, One Shot, Parent-Child Relationship, Romantic Fluff, Zuko (Avatar) is a Good Parent
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-23
Updated: 2020-07-23
Packaged: 2021-03-05 07:14:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,747
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25466830
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Xanadian/pseuds/Xanadian
Summary: Zuko and Mai have a date night planned after forever. Now, if only Izumi would fall asleep.Just lots of that good old fluff.
Relationships: Mai/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 18
Kudos: 146





	Date Night

Mai pulled back her energetic baby by her ankle, as she crawled to the edge of the bed, trying to escape her mother. She turned her over face up, looking down at the child, an elbow propping up her own head. She placed a firm hand on her wriggling baby.

Her eyebrows knitted together as she whined dramatically, ‘Please fall asleep my sweet baby girl.’

Izumi cackled with a shout, amused by the unfamiliar tone of Mai’s voice.

Despite her frustration, Mai couldn’t help but giggle back, bending down to press an affectionate kiss on Izumi's head.

‘You like that huh? You like torturing your mother?’ she cooed scratching the pads of Izumi’s little baby feet earning more joyful gurgles.

Zuko sighed looking up from his work table across to the bed. How did Mai expect him to stay rooted in his chair and finish any work while she lay there with Izumi in clear view of him, being like _that?_

He got up, stashing his scrolls away. That’s right. He couldn’t.

He strode over to the bed, sliding in beside his baby daughter and picking her up over him, ‘The Flying Princess Izumi!’

She shouted, laughing as Zuko dropped her from above, catching her just in time. Flying Princess Izumi was always a hit. 

‘Don’t get her excited Zuko, she was almost falling asleep’ Mai drawled.

He motioned with his eyes to Izumi’s dangling legs that kicked around in full force. There was so much power in her legs, she was constantly flailing them around. They truly believed she would never walk, just sprint right away.

‘She was nowhere close to falling asleep.’

‘UGH! I don’t know what to do. I’ve bathed her, fed her, changed her.’ Mai groaned, dropping her head on to the pillow in exasperation.

Zuko lowered Izumi to his chest who was enamoured by the large shiny button on his robe. He reached out, placing a warm tender hand on Mai’s forehead as she closed her eyes.

This parenting stuff was hard. It was all very new to them both and they were stumbling their way through this journey, to put it lightly.

Mai wouldn’t change Izumi for the world, but she was a handful. Sometimes she would cry for hours for no apparent reason, other times she would laugh herself into a bellyache and then cry some more. Some days she just wouldn't leave Mai’s side, descending into hysterical screeching if Mai so much as rushed to the bathroom without her. On other occasions, she wouldn’t eat a thing unless it was fed to her by her father while he held her on his lap, interrupting many a royal meeting where Zuko had to keep shifting his attention between his generals and his daughter’s razor-sharp teeth.

Some nights she would sleep through till morning and on others, like tonight, she would lie awake with no intention of hitting the sack.

Mai couldn’t remember the last time Zuko and her had spent any quality time just by themselves. Any quiet moments they were permitted, were spent catching up on precious sleep. Lately, they prioritised no more than spending at least their mealtimes together.

Izumi was too young and too attached for them to leave her with someone else. Until recently.

She had started to spend hours at a time with her grandmothers without missing her parents too much.

Taking advantage of this, Zuko had planned a date night for them. He had asked Ursa to take care of Izumi as she slept, while they took off for the night for a little cruise dinner.

He had planned for it to be extra special, to make up for all the months after Izumi was born, that they had been unable to do something fancy together. So much of their attention was demanded by their daughter, that now a simple walk with each other in the royal gardens was a rare ‘fancy’ occurrence.

Mai was always exhausted. She took this stuff too hard on herself. He could sense the frustration building in her when she saw Michi or Ursa do something to magically soothe a crying Izumi. She thought it was her fault for not understanding what her babbling daughter wanted or for not instinctively knowing how to put her at ease.

The break she was taking from her Advisory duties seemed to be stressing her out more, she was itching to get back into all the projects she had abandoned during her pregnancy but he couldn’t allow it. She simply did not have the stamina for it at the end of a day.

So, he had planned a nice dinner to uplift her spirits. They would be served all her favourite dishes. He had arranged for a live band to entertain them on the ship as they cruised the quiet night-time creek. He had asked for all her preferred drinks to be stored on-board to help her lighten up, and a cozy chamber all done-up to facilitate their post-dinner activities.

Mai picked Izumi off his chest, who was beginning to chew on the button now.

‘You should sing her a lullaby, that always slows her down.’ Zuko offered.

‘I can’t sing.’ she sighed, adding, ‘Wish we could somehow teleport Uncle Iroh to sing to her each night, she always falls asleep with him.’

She winced trying to gently pry her hair out of Izumi’s unforgiving grasp.

‘It’s because of his pipa. She loves the sound of instruments.’ Zuko deduced. He suddenly sat up, eyes shining with the idea that had flashed in his head.

‘I should play her the sunghi horn! She’ll love –’

‘No. Please no.’ Mai cut him off, raising a curt hand, ‘She cries when you play the horn Zuko, I’m sorry.’ She added softly.

‘I told you, she was _hungry_ that time’ he sulked, nevertheless slumping back against the ornate bedpost.

Mai sighed in defeat, ‘I’ll sing to her.’

Then resting Izumi down on a pillow, she smiled warmly up at him, ‘You can play me the sunghi horn at dinner tonight. Get dressed.’

Zuko nodded, not quite moving off the soft inviting bed just yet. He looked over to their shared vanity, where both their matching outfits hung.

He had ordered the royal seamstress to make Mai a special dress for the evening, a dark satin gown, that showed off her favourite features of herself. Her striking neckline framed with emerald beads and her gorgeous sleek back on display through the delicate straps that held the dress together from behind. He had noticed Mai had grown conscious of her body since Izumi. She felt strange putting on her old robes that now, fit very differently around her hips that had undergone the most dramatic change.

Zuko didn’t see it. He thought she had gotten even more stunning through her pregnancy. There was a healthy glow that emanated from her and all the changes her body had gone through made her even more attractive to him (if that was even possible).

He hoped the dress that hung across the room, would make her feel unabashedly beautiful again. Like she was to him.

‘Leaves from the vine, falling so slow…’

Mai didn’t have the typical honeyed voice one heard with lullabies, but her low raspy tones were so comforting to him. They sounded like home.

Izumi’s kicking slowed down as she stared up in wonderment at her mother.

‘Like fragile, tiny shells, drifting in the foam…’

Zuko absentmindedly played with Mai’s hair, gently massaging her scalp. Her hair slipping through his fingers as his vision retained only a soft focus on Izumi.

* * *

Ursa walked down the corridor towards the Fire Lord’s chamber. She carried with her a warm bottle of milk to feed baby Izumi if she woke up during the night, avoiding having to call her son and daughter-in-law back from their well-deserved night out. She had arrived a little earlier too, not wanting them to miss out on any ‘alone time’ whatsoever.

She rapped the heavy door with her knuckles, waiting to be let in. Seconds passed as she heard no sound from within. A minute. Quiet.

They were definitely in their chamber; the guards wouldn’t have let her in otherwise.

 _Strange._ She pushed gently on the door checking to see if maybe it was open. It was.

Letting herself in, she looked around cautiously to make sure she wasn’t intruding on a private moment. As she took a few steps ahead, she saw Zuko laying on the bed, his back facing her. Were they still trying to get little Izumi to fall asleep?

Curious, Ursa walked towards him. As she got closer, she saw both Zuko and Mai, fast asleep on the bed curled around either side of Izumi who was playing with the shiny button she had managed to pluck out from Zuko’s robe. His hand rested gently on Mai’s head, whose fingers, in turn, threaded lightly through Izumi’s soft wavy tufts.

Overwhelmed at this lovely sight, Ursa raised a hand to her chest. How she wished she could capture this moment and hold it close to her forever.

Seeing her grandmother, Izumi gurgled with mirth, throwing up her hands at her. Ursa smiled, bending to pick her up as gingerly as possible.

‘You are naughty little girl’ she whispered to Izumi who squirmed gleefully in agreement. Ursa held up the bottle of milk as Izumi hungrily sucked on it, keeping her from making any loud noises and waking up her parents.

Ursa struggled a little, pulling the blanket up to Zuko with her occupied hands. She refused to believe her baby boy was all grown up, a father now to his own child. She bent down, placing a soft kiss in his hair.

She shuffled noiselessly over to Mai’s side; gentle snores emanated from the weary mother. She squeezed her shoulder lovingly, pulling the blanket over her as well.

Once, long ago, Ursa had been devasted to leave her only daughter behind. Now, she had three.

‘And the most beautiful granddaughter too’ she smiled down at Izumi who was resting peacefully in her hands, having worn herself out, gulping down the warm milk.

Raising children was hard work. She knew. She had raised three little devils herself, two in this very chamber.

She walked across the room, drawing the curtains before she closed the door behind her, leaving with Izumi.

The young tired parents didn’t stir an inch all through Ursa’s fussing, nor through the night.

**Author's Note:**

> Wrote this to take a quick break from my multi-chaptered angsty MaixZuko fic. Hope you enjoyed it!


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